Monday, 14 July 2014

Denial of painful truths block the path to peace.

What does it take for people of supposed reason and
intelligence to see things as they really are?

Recently, the perceptive and erudite Alan Dershowitz told us
how the repeated and incessant Hamas rocket attacks against Israel shatters
established myths. He quoted three myths; that the primary cause of the
Israel-Palestinian conflict is occupation and settlement building, that both
sides share the blame for the “cycle of violence,” and that Mahmoud
Abbas is part of the solution, not the problem. Skillfully, and with common
sense, he deconstructed each of these concepts. He evidenced his arguments on
recent Hamas decisions and actions, each of which, individually and
collectively, exposes the truth that no peace is possible with such a fractured
Palestinian society and Palestinian political structure in which the majority
of the people (as evidenced by their last election results which gave Hamas an
overwhelming majority) support a universally designated terrorist organization,
and an Islamic one at that, that rejects the Jewish State of Israel anywhere

.

In Paris, aping Palestinian Arab youth, Muslims demonstrated
their support for the Palestinian cause by throwing rocks and bricks at French
Jews and tried to assault the synagogues into which they fled for shelter. One
said that it was like “an intifada.” For these Muslim immigrants in
France, just as it is for Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Palestinian
Salafists, and some will say the Palestinian Authority, their struggle is one
of removing the presence of a Jewish State from the region.

The mob attitude, as well as Hamas words and deeds, changes the
Palestinian cause into Anti-Semitism. No peace is possible with such racial
hatred, on either side of the conflict.

For all French Jews, the frightening sight of fellow Jews
fleeing for their lives into a Jewish sanctuary is synonymous with the need for
French Jews to escape the dangerous streets of France and find shelter in the
Jewish State of Israel.

Here though, they should appreciate that the hatred
expressed in various forms and at all levels of Palestinian society against
Israel is, at its deep heart, a burning Anti-Semitism that does not allow even
the so-called moderate arm of the Palestinian political spectrum to accept the
notion of a Jewish state, and insists in having a Jew-free Palestine.

Anyone with a modicum of reason and common sense can see
that Israel is fighting a war against terror – Palestinian terror. Yet, the
media and diplomats in Western liberal democracies, whom you would assume to
have an ounce of knowledge about the basic values of Israel, and the lack of
such values in the rest of the violent Middle East, are in denial. Why? We
can’t accuse them all of being Anti-Semites. Instead, they are tainted with the
opinion that all Israel has to do is give up land for peace and we can all live
happily ever after. If only!

What fools they are! How closely they resemble the Three
Monkeys. It’s “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” when it comes
to their attitude toward the Palestinians. But if Israel is forced to defend
its citizens from Palestinian terror all hell is let loose. Israel is deserving
of intense retribution, according to the naïve elite that wrongly makes the
moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Dershowitz references this
in his myth about “the cycle of violence” that fails to value the
struggle of a liberal democracy against totalitarian and religious terror
regime, even if that terror falsely disguises itself in a cloak of
liberation. These mordant fools of the
press, politics, and academia need to be told that the shallowness of their
thinking discredits them. If their judgment on such a basic issue is not valued
or appreciated, how can they be trusted to formulate the fate of Israel?

Here I want to appeal to the “Two-Staters” - those
who have, for forty years, been championing the elusive, if not impossible,
Two-State Solution. They seem to be the same people who are scrambling to force
Israel into negotiating a ceasefire with Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad in
Gaza. I will grant that they are people of goodwill and capable of following a
fairly simple thought process. So, I will address them directly;

If you accept, and current events make this point undeniable,
that Hamas is a spoiler in the peace process, a Hamas that is an officially
designated terrorist organization and is doing everything possible to prove it?

Doesn't it make sense therefore that, instead of keeping them and their deadly
weapons in place, you should be encouraging Israel to do the dirty work and
degrade their stockpiles and weaken their leadership to insignificance?
Wouldn’t you think this would give the opportunity for the “moderate”
branch of the Palestinian Authority to assert their control of the Gaza Strip,
and improve the prospects of the people living there? And wouldn’t this herald
a better future that would encourage Israel to sit down and hammer out a
permanent peace agreement with a de-militarized Palestinian entity that has
asserted itself in both the West Bank and Gaza?

Clearly the political status quo is unsustainable. If you
truly want peace in our neck of the woods, this means enforcing a profound
change in the existing political framework, one that strengthens the moderate
and liberal democratic voices and eliminates, as much as possible, the radical
intolerant violent elements. Going toe to toe with violent, fundamental,
terrorists requires courage and commitment, and the full support of fellow
travelers who share this vision. Israel has the courage and the necessity for
take up this challenge. The consequence of failing to support Israel in this
mission inevitably means we will have a repeat of Palestinian terror in the
next year or so after they, once again, build up their weapon stockpile.

It also means that “Two-State” dreamers will continue
to dream for another forty years.

Barry Shaw is the special consultant on delegitimization
issues to the Strategic Dialogue Center at Netanya Academic College. He is also
the author of “Israel Reclaiming the Narrative.” www.israelnarrative.com